Delineating Des

Meet Chester. He lives in Beamish . I don't know how I knew his name. There are three probabilities: someone told me his name was Chester; his name was listed in that guidebook on my left hand or I just named him myself. One thing defies my progressing senility - Chester is a heart stealer. Even without a capture, this heart-warming moment will breathe eternally fresh in my stock of beautiful emotions. I held out my palm. He came closer and checked what's in it for him. Mint candies. Chester didn't hesitate. He licked them off as if thinking, "what took you so long to give me my treat?" I forgot the shrinking complaint of my south-east asian blood against the cold of North England. I told Chester to leave some for me. He kept on eating til my palm was empty. I giggled and he understood I had more. It only took a second for him to realize where are the rest. He licked my purse too! The force of his tongue gave me a gentle push. His intelligence sealed my admiratio...

Chess is part of my family history. Papa was particularly immersed in it during his free time. I grew up wondering what does the game have to do with Rapunzel's plight. I thought it was a bit insensitive of him to enjoy his game when there were damsels in distress in dire need of rescuing. He was happy playing with neighbors, friends or visiting relatives. I stuck with Snow White and gasped when she ate the poisoned apple. He tried to explain the rules of the game to me but I walked with Little Red Riding Hood through the forest and was busy worrying what would she look like when the wolf was through gobbling her up. Although I was aware of the significance of chess as a mind game, my curiosity froze at the squares. When Papa retired he spent more and more time on the board, the same one he played on since I was a kid. The decades have captured the king, yellowed the queen, fatigued the bishops, rusted the rooks and flaked the pawns; but he enjoyed them like he always did when...